How Much Does Luckin Starbucks Yirgacheffe Coffee Cost Yirgacheffe Coffee Bean Ranking and Flavor Introduction

At the end of 2020, Luckin Coffee launched the "Little Black Cup·SOE Yirgacheffe" in major cities, priced between 20-34 yuan. The affordable price combined with single-origin coffee beans successfully attracted the attention of many coffee enthusiasts. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce you to the origins of Yirgacheffe coffee.

Yirgacheffe: The Epitome of Ethiopian Specialty Coffee

As the birthplace of coffee beans, Africa holds a pivotal position in the entire coffee industry. Coffee from this region generally carries rich aromas and captivating fruity acidity. The most famous representative coffee-producing countries are Ethiopia and Kenya.

Coffee cultivation in Ethiopia is primarily concentrated in the western and southern regions, with smallholder family farms accounting for 90% of total cultivation. Nearly 1.2 million smallholder families rely on coffee cultivation for their livelihood. The local coffee production system is predominantly characterized by garden coffee. Due to the small-scale production by smallholders, numerous coffee cooperatives and processing plants of various sizes have been established in the region, mainly responsible for processing green coffee beans from the area. Farmers deliver their harvested coffee beans to nearby processing plants built near water sources for unified processing, and subsequent sales are made under the name of the processing plant.

The name Yirgacheffe originates from the town of "YIRGACHEFFE," situated at an ultra-high altitude of 1,700-2,100 meters. The town is shrouded in mist during the day and enjoys spring-like weather year-round. Coffee farmers cultivate coffee trees alongside other crops in their backyards or farmland in front of their homes. Strictly speaking, Yirgacheffe is a sub-producing region within Ethiopia's Sidamo province, located to the northwest of Sidamo. Later, due to the distinctive flavor of coffee produced here, which gained worldwide fame, it became independent from Sidamo and established its own identity.

To promote the development of the coffee industry, the Ethiopian government registered the flavor profiles of its three coffee-producing regions (including Yirgacheffe Yirgacheffe®) as commercial trademarks in 2004. In 2008, the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) was established, with coffee being one of the auctioned commodities. The government implemented quality grading and flavor classification for its exported coffee, ensuring buyers can purchase coffee with trademarked flavors. Origins with Yirgacheffe flavor include Yirgacheffe, Wenago, Gelena Abaya, and Kochere.

The Global Phenomenon of Yirgacheffe Flavor

As one of the representatives of global specialty coffee, Yirgacheffe possesses unique citrus and lemon fruit aromas, complemented by the fragrance of jasmine flowers. Its fresh and bright floral and fruity notes, coupled with distinct layers of acidity, create a clean and unadulterated taste. The rich and well-balanced mouthfeel is an enchanting characteristic of Yirgacheffe, earning it the reputation as a representative of African specialty coffee and enjoying high esteem among global coffee connoisseurs.

The so-called Yirgacheffe flavor encompasses elegant citrus, lemon, berry notes, and rich floral aromas, accompanied by a clear tea-like sensation that leaves a lasting impression. To express such refined flavors and mouthfeel, none of the following elements can be overlooked: excellent growing conditions, coffee varieties, processing methods, as well as roasting and brewing techniques.

Located on the African continent, Ethiopia has underdeveloped water resources, which traditionally led to the use of ancient natural processing methods for green beans – direct drying under sunlight. Due to the relatively crude techniques, coffee quality was generally low. It wasn't until 1972 that Ethiopia introduced washed processing technology and equipment from Central and South America to improve coffee bean quality. Unlike other producing regions, Yirgacheffe is a wetland area, making it more suitable for washed processing methods. This initiative also amplified the inherent citrus and lemon aromas of Yirgacheffe coffee beans, resulting in a fresher and brighter taste profile.

Washed Processing Steps

After harvesting, coffee cherries are placed in water, where the buoyancy of water helps separate underripe fruits. Then, a pulping machine removes the pulp and skin from the cherries. The beans are left to ferment in fermentation tanks for 18-36 hours until the mucilage layer decomposes. After fermentation, the parchment beans are washed in channels, where specially designed channels combined with water flow remove low-density, poor-quality beans. Finally, the coffee beans are drained of moisture and spread out on African-style raised beds to dry. The multiple stages of eliminating defective beans significantly reduce the defect rate, resulting in higher cleanliness and clearer, more transparent inherent aromas.

In the past, most of the coffee we drank was dominated by bitter and burnt flavors. The main reason for coffee's intense bitterness was that roasters roasted the beans to a dark level, with the primary flavor direction being nuts and dark chocolate. With the emergence of specialty coffee concepts, to preserve more acidity, roasters began to roast Yirgacheffe coffee only to an appropriate light level. Light-roasted Yirgacheffe exhibits pleasant fruit sweetness and sourness, along with white floral notes, arguably ushering in "a new era of fruity acidic coffee." The preference for sweetness and aversion to bitterness precisely align with popular taste preferences, which explains why Yirgacheffe is so popular worldwide.

In recent years, various high-quality single-origin coffee beans have gradually been added to fixed menus in coffee shops. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu features a large blackboard, with each variety showcasing its unique flavor characteristics. Beyond pour-over, baristas began researching how to apply single-origin coffee beans with distinctive flavors to espresso extraction, leading to the rise in popularity of SOE (Single Origin Espresso). On January 5, 2021, Luckin Coffee signed agreements to purchase a total of 1,000-2,000 tons of specialty coffee beans annually from Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe region between 2021-2023, launching SOE Little Black Cups in multiple cities. The coffee beans used in the "Little Black Cup" come from Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe, demonstrating that single-origin coffees with outstanding flavors are gradually becoming a popular trend pursued by many.

FrontStreet Coffee's House-Roasted Yirgacheffe Flavors

As fans of floral and fruity flavored coffee, FrontStreet Coffee features multiple Yirgacheffe coffee beans on its menu, with the most representative being the washed Gedeb Cooperative, natural Red Cherry, and the washed Yirgacheffe daily drinker beans that represent Ethiopian coffee.

Among customers who come to FrontStreet Coffee for coffee, if they wish to experience washed, fruit-forward coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas will prioritize recommending the Gedeb Cooperative beans from the shelf; if they desire full, rounded fruit sweetness, FrontStreet Coffee believes the natural Red Cherry is more suitable. The Gedeb Cooperative consists of 300 cooperative smallholder farmers, renowned for growing Ethiopia's highest quality coffee. The processing method also follows the most traditional washed approach, earning it the reputation as "the last pure land of Yirgacheffe." Natural Red Cherry coffee beans are made from 100% mature coffee cherries processed naturally, preserving the complete coffee fruit. More sugar substances from the pulp and mucilage penetrate the beans, resulting in richer sweetness in flavor and fermented notes.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that Yirgacheffe's primary representative flavor is fruit acidity, making it more suitable for light roasting to preserve more aromatic acids.

Yirgacheffe Cupping Notes

Washed Gedeb Cooperative Coffee: The dry aroma emits fresh passion fruit, citrus, and berry acidity. The wet aroma presents citrus and berries. Upon tasting, it reveals citrus acidity, berry sweetness, almond notes, tea-like sensations, with a honey-sweet aftertaste. Light body with bright acidity, clean and refreshing.

Natural Red Cherry Coffee: The dry aroma exhibits full berry sweet and sour notes. When slurped at different temperatures, it presents soft berry sweetness and sourness, mature fruit fermentation, distinct honey sweetness, and black tea finish, with a smooth mouthfeel.

Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe daily drinker beans use washed processing and medium-light roasting, carrying classic Yirgacheffe flavor notes, suitable for various brewing methods including pour-over, cold brew, and French press. FrontStreet Coffee's daily drinker series allows friends new to the coffee world to experience the basic flavors of the producing region at affordable prices, with small packaging designs preventing waste from unfinished coffee. If you wish to taste the classic aromas of Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee believes that hand-poured black coffee extraction is most suitable.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations

Some customers, after purchasing FrontStreet Coffee's beans, consult FrontStreet Coffee for relevant brewing suggestions. In fact, each bag of FrontStreet Coffee's beans provides brewing parameters for reference on the label. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss the extraction approach for Yirgacheffe based on our store's standards.

Since Yirgacheffe uses light roasting, the coffee beans are relatively hard and require high-temperature water at 92℃-93℃ to extract the floral and fruity notes from the coffee. FrontStreet Coffee recommends a medium-fine grind size (78% retention through China standard #20 sieve). Too coarse a grind cannot extract the body substances, resulting in thin coffee. Too fine a grind can easily lead to over-extraction at high water temperatures, making the coffee prone to bitterness.

During cupping, FrontStreet Coffee noticed that this bean exhibits different flavors at different temperature stages, so the brewing method employs three-stage extraction, allowing different flavor compounds to better express themselves as the coffee bed temperature gradually increases. To highlight the fresh and charming aroma of washed Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee uses the V60 dripper for brewing. The spiral rib design of the dripper allows coffee grounds to degas better, maximizing the volatilization and dissolution of acidic aromatic compounds.

Dripper: V60

Water Temperature: 92-93°C

Coffee Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Fine sugar size (78% retention through #20 sieve)

Three-Stage Pouring: Use twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds to wet the coffee bed, forming a dome for a 30-second bloom. Then, using a small water stream, pour in circles from inside to outside until reaching 125g for the first stage. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the height of the dripper, then continue with the same fine water stream for the third stage to 225g. Remove the dripper once all coffee liquid has filtered through, taking approximately 2 minutes total.

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